Mounting arrangement for vehicle sun shades



Oct. 13, 1959 PERAS a 2,908,517

MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR VEHICLE SUN SHADES Filed Nov. 19. 1956 United States Patent MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR VEHICLE SUN SHADES Lucien Peras, Billaucourt, France, assignor to Regie Nationale des Usines Renault, Billancourt, France Application November 19, 1956, Serial No. 623,190

Claims priority, application France November 25, 1955 1 Claim. (Cl. 28720.3)

The invention relates to a mounting arrangement for vehicle sun shades or visors and the like which enable the screen to be adjusted easily on its support and to be immobilized in the adjusted position as soon as the person adjusting the screen releases it irrespective of the wear onthe part of the screen which is in contact with the pivot pin.

This arrangement is particularly applicable for mounting screens made of synthetic material.

The arrangement is constituted essentially by a suitable spring such as a spring steel rod, for example, of appropriate shape which is lodged in a groove formed in the bore of the screen receiving the support, the said spring bearing on the one hand against the bore and on the other hand against the support, producing some friction Where it contacts the latter, thus enabling movement of the screen to be retarded when it is adjusted on its support and allowing the play between the parts in contact with one another to be taken up.

The invention also relates to certain features of the arrangement which will be described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view on the axis of the support, showing the connection between screen and support;

Figure 2 shows the spring steel rod separated from the screen.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the sunshade screen or visor 1 comprises a housing or bore 2 which accommodates the support pin or shaft 3 which is fixed or movable depending on the arrangement adopted for the sunshade. The end 4 of the support pin or shaft 3 is tapered so as to facilitate its introduction into the housing 2 in the screen when the latter is mounted. In order to facilitate this introduction further, the housing 2 comprises a flared portion 5 at its inlet.

Provided in the housing 2 is a longitudinal groove 6 intended to receive a spring steel rod or leaf spring 7 which is appropriately shaped or bowed and bears against the bottom of the groove and against the support pin. The said rod 7 forms a leaf spring and, before it is arranged in the screen housing, it has the bowed shape illustrated in Fig. 2. After assembly, this rod 7 bears at 8 against the bottom of the groove 6 and at 9 against the support pin 3. It has a braking action against the said support pin when the screen is adjusted by being turned, and the spring rod which bears against the support 3 with a predetermined force or frictional holding force immobilizes the screen in the adjusted position.

The spring rod 7 comprises a bent end portion 10 by means of which it engages in a hole 11 in the screen 1, thus fixing the spring rod in the groove 6 of the housing 2.

For assembly, the spring rod is introduced into its housing 2 and the screen is inserted over the support 3,

Dismounting is equally easy, since it is suflicient to apply some force to the screen to disengage it from the support. 7

This mounting arrangement, which is applicable to all screens, for example, sunshade screens and glare shields, is used with advantage with screens made of synthetic material. The assembly, which is very simple, ensures constant friction during pivoting whatever the temperature and whatever the wear on the members. All the cavities in the screen are preferably formed by molding.

It will be apparent that the invention covers any embodiment wherein a spring is used to exert friction against one of the mounting members.

I claim:

In combination a substantially rectangular molded plastic visor made as an integral whole having a bore molded therein on a marginal edge portion and open to a first edge thereof adjacent a second edge and extending inwardly of the visor in a direction toward a third edge of the visor opposite to the first mentioned edge, a rigid shaft of circular cross section releasably insertable into said bore for pivotally mounting the Visor, said shaft extending into said bore from said first edge of the visor only part way to said third edge and the portion of the shaft in said bore being straight, the visor having a longitudinal groove disposed radially of the bore in communication therewith and extending from the opening of the bore in a direction inwardly of the visor at least a portion of the length of said bore, a bowed leaf spring housed internally of said bore in said groove and extending longitudinally in said groove engaging the periphery of a portion of the shaft in the bore and in a flattened and tensioned position when the shaft is inserted in said bore to releasably hold the Visor in selected angular positions on said shaft with the visor extending radially therefrom, the leaf spring in said groove having a length almost as great as the length of the entire portion of the shaft disposed in said'bore, said visor having a recess extending radially from said groove adjacent but spaced from the opening of said bore and said leaf spring having an outer end portion bent outwardly to extend radially of the bore and fitting into said recess to anchor said outer spring end and having an inner end portion bent inwardly to provide a smooth surface bearing on the bottom of said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,383,557 Noelting July 5, 1921 2,160,505 Jacobs May 30, 1939 2,201,377 Schoenheit May 21, 1940 2,526,889 McComb Oct. 24, 1950 

